The Future is Now: Evidence-Based Primary Care
Primary care is core to what we do at Kaiser Permanente. There has always been strong emphasis on a patient’s relationship with their primary care physician. What has been present, but not always emphasized as strongly, has been the critical role that an entire care team plays in ensuring that primary care is meeting patients’ needs for prevention and chronic condition management.
Katie Coleman and her team at the Center for Accelerating Care Transformation in KP Washington are leading work to gather evidence into the most effective practices in primary care. Her group is focused on driving towards the Quintuple Aim: better care, better patient experience, better staff experience, reduced disparities in care, and lower costs.
She shared 4 key pillars of an effective primary care practice, validated by research from multiple organizations.
These pillars are:
- Layering the foundation, including a strong quality improvement strategy
- Building relationships, including team-building healing relationships
- Changing care delivery, including patient-centered interactions
- Reducing barriers to care, including enhanced access
An exciting study she shared was with a new primary care facility in Seattle, WA, where her group tested an evidence-based care team model. Increases in patient satisfaction and decreases in emergency room visits were key highlights from the pilot. Katie shares the overview of the work in this blog post.
The Center for Accelerating Care Transformation creates research and best practices for the public domain and have a great website that has tools and resources for implementing primary care teams. Visit Improving Primary Care to find guidance on how you can improve your primary care practice.
Kaiser Permanente’s South Lake Union primary care clinic in Seattle, WA. Innovative clinic designed for patient-centered care.
For more insights on Kaiser Permanente’s primary care approach, including use of technology and health education, join the Primary Care webinar series. Recordings for Katie’s session are available when you join the series.
